


Lady Swan and the queen

by sugarsweet_19



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate History, Alternate Universe, F/F, Forbidden Love, Kings & Queens, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-14 12:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14770076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarsweet_19/pseuds/sugarsweet_19
Summary: Born a bastard Emma thought that one day she would end up like one of the lady's in Madame Blue's brothel.But fate had other plans for her, fate and her father.After her adventure's life in the new world she returns home to live a life at court, find a suitable husband and become the queen's favorite lady in waiting.





	1. Chapter 1

In times older than the one we are living in, with our warm beds and heated water. Where we watch snow glide down the protective glass windows.  Winter was a season to fear. Especially if you where someone like Emma. An orphan left in the care of Madame Blue, the town’s Madame of pleasure. Winter for her meant hunger and teeth clattering cold. Hoping that she wouldn’t get sick from sleeping on the floor in the basement of the brothel. Because a little cold could mean that death would come to pay a visit.

Little Emma had already survived eight winters. Something she felt very proud of and something Madame blue had noticed. She wanted strong girls, they need to be tough for the lives there were going to live.

“Emma!” Madame Blue called down to the basement. “Emma wake up! You lazy girl.” Several groans answered Madame Blue. One of those groans pushed herself up and walked to the stairs.

Madame blue watched how a mess of blonde curls made her way up the stairs. The little girl rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up a little more.

“Finally!” Madame Blue says and pushes Emma forward towards the kitchen. “Go and grab that bucket! I want you to fill the barrel outside with water from the well and if you are finished I’ll tell you what you need to do next.” Madame Blue pushes Emma outside and closes the door making sure that no heat left the house. Emma looks at the door and whines. It was freezing outside and the small pieces of clothing that were supposed to be Emma’s clothes didn’t protect her against it. But Emma knew she couldn’t complain to Madame Blue, if she did she would be in a worse situation then the cold. She starts walking towards the well rubbing her hands to keep her blood flowing. Emma knew if she works hard her body will heat up and she will be warm soon.

Emma filled more than a dozen buckets of water and carried them back to the brothel. It was so early that the fog wasn’t cleared up yet making her walks scary and misty. Sometimes her mind played tricks on her and she would think someone was watching her but when she got closer it would only be a tree. She hated walking alone to the well. It was located close to the woods and she knew about girls who hadn’t come back. Snatched by wolves or snatched by bad men. So Emma worked hard and fast.

When she had finished her shore she knocks on the door and waits for Madame Blue to let her back in. “Took you long enough.” Madame Blue snarls nothing of warmth in her voice.

Emma stepped past the hateful woman and into the kitchen. Several ladies and other children were eating. Emma could feel her stomach rubble. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday noon time and her stomach was rumbling loudly.

“Here, eat this!” Madame Blue says giving Emma a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of bread. Emma accepts happily and takes a seat on the floor next to some of the little children.

“When you’re finished, I want you to go to the market and buy all off this.” Madame Blue says handing Emma a note. Emma studies the scribbles, she couldn’t read them.

“It’s says you need to tell farmer Jack to bring two pitchers of milk and a dozen eggs. Next you go to Albert the butcher and ask for 5 pound cow meat.” Madame Blue explains the note. “If you forget you show them the note. Do you understand?” Emma nods and shoves another hand of oatmeal in her mouth. She puts the piece of bread in her pocket, making sure she had at least something to eat at noon time. Sometimes Madame Blue forgets to feed the children, no she doesn’t forget. She sometimes thinks it’s not necessary, skipping a meal makes them stronger.

When Emma finishes her meal she grabs a basket for the meat and leaves the house. She doesn’t like going to the market. People stare at her because they know where she comes from, the brothel house. Emma doesn’t know much of where she actually ame from, who her parents are. Madame Blue never told her and if Emma asked she would be yelled at. She did hear some rumours but those were from people who looked at her with disgust, she didn’t know if she should believe them or not. They call her a whore’s daughter, the lowest of the lowest, a roach that should be stepped on. The words hurt her and she could only wish that someday she could prove her worth. But that means she needs to become something else then the live that was already in place for her.

 

Just like all the other times she went to the market she was looked at with disgust. Emma walked with her head down and hoped that she didn’t hear the veil words they whispered behind her back. She walked to farmer’s Jack stall and waited her turn.

“What do you want girl?” Farmer Jack asks. Emma looks up and scrunches her nose. She looks at the note and remembers what Madame Blue told her. “Two pitchers of Milk need to be delivered to Madame Blue.” Emma says, her voice was small and barely audible.

“Tell Blue, I’ll bring them by tonight.” Emma nods and starts searching for the butcher’s stall.

“Look that’s one of Blue’s roaches. Filthy children!” A female voice says close by. Emma looks up for a second to see an older lady looking at her with hate in her eyes. She hurriedly looks down again and keeps walking. She’s hurt because it’s not fair that this person hates her but she can understand where the hatred is coming from. Emma sometimes sees the men coming to the brothel at night, workmen, lords. They are all the same, they all want what Madame Blue is offering. The lady is just hoping that Emma’s isn’t one of her husband’s bastards.

 

A weight knocks against Emma, making her fall on the ground and in the dirt. She looks up at what caused her to fall down and meets the most brown looking eyes she has ever seen. A girl her age watches her with wide eyes. Emma looks the girl over and sees the expensive dress the girl is wearing which is covered in dirt now. Emma feels herself grow cold, she had made this girl fall down and dirtied her dress. She stands up and holds her hand out for the girl to take. She needs to get the girl of the ground and help her fix her dress.

The girl reaches for Emma’s hand but before she can take it a sharp wooden stick slaps against Emma’s hand. “Don’t you touch her, you beast!” The same vile woman that Emma had overheard shouts at her. Emma takes a step back and looks down at her feet.

“I’m so sorry Ma’am.” Emma says expecting the worst. The woman pulls the other girl on her feet and pushes her towards someone else. “Take her back to the carriage, I’ll deal with this bastard.” The woman sneers.

“On your knees!”

Emma drops to her knees and keeps her head down. She bites her lip and just hopes the punishment will be over soon.

“Held out your hands and turn your palms up.” The lady says holding her stick up. The moment Emma’s palms are turned the stick lands on them. Emma bites hard on her lip until she can taste her own blood.

15 times the stick lands on Emma’s palm before the woman is satisfied. “I hope you have learned you place. Children like you should have never been born.” The woman says and leaves. Emma waits a second before she watches the woman go. She looks at her hands and sees that some slaps have cut open her skin. She looks around and sees some snow lying. She gets up, walks towards the snow, she sticks her hands into the snow and bites her teeth. She hopes the cold will numb her hands quickly so she can finish what Madame Blue told her to do.

 

 

 

 

 

Emma is lying on the cold floor again, she tries to find a comfortable position but her shivering isn’t helping. She sits up and looks around the room. The little children are all tucked together in one bed. Two babies are in a crib and Emma’s friend Lily is lying next to her.

“Lily.” Emma whispers. “Lily?” Lily turns around and stares at Emma.

“What’s wrong Emma? Can’t sleep?” Lily asks snuggling closer to Emma and taking her hand in hers. Emma’s hand is freezing cold. Lily starts blowing into Emma’s hand, trying to warm it up. She feels how rough Emma’s hands are. Emma told her about what happened to her today. She hopes they don’t hurt much.

“It’s just so cold.” Emma says her teeth clattering. Lily nods and pulls Emma closer to her. They share their body heat maybe if they get warm enough together they can sleep.

It would have worked if it wasn’t for the noise coming from upstairs. They can hear loud laughing and music. Seems like Madame Blue had a good night.

 

After a while Emma and Lily got used to the noise. Lying so close together made it just warm enough for them the find some sleep. But they weren’t lucky for long when their slumber was disturbed by a loud yelling. “Stop! You can’t go in there!” All of the sudden Emma and Lily can hear Madame’s Blue’s voice.

“Out of my way!” A loud masculine voice sounds through the cracks of the door leading towards the basement. The noise wakes up the other children and they all look freighted at the door. Lily and Emma sneak to the far corner of the basement to hide.

The basement door opens, shinning a light into the dark room. The babies start crying and the little children group together.

“I’m taking her with me.” The man says coming down the stairs.

“You can’t just take her with you. I raised her, I clothed her, fed her. Do you know how much money I lost? I need her to work that off.” Madame Blue says walking behind the man clearly frustrated.

The man turns around and hands her a little purse. Madame Blue raises her eyebrow and empties the purse in her hand. Several golden coins fall out.

“She won’t be working for you. Now, show me where Emma is!” The man demands and Madame Blue’s nods. She steps pass the man and looks into the room.

“Emma? Emma where are you? Come out!” Madame Blue demands.

Emma looks at Lily with fear in her eyes. Did that man just buy Emma? What is he going to do to her. Lily takes Emma’s hand and squeezes it tightly.

“Don’t go.” Lily whispers but it wasn’t quite enough. 

“There she is.” Madame Blue says when she spots Emma and Lily in the corner. Madame Blue advances on them both and grabs Emma’s arm. She pulls at it and Emma screams out in pain. She knows the hard treatment will leave a bruise tomorrow.

“Let go of her!” Madame Blue shouts at Lily and gives her a kick. Madame Blue’s foot hits Lily’s hand and the girl has to let go of Emma.

“Stop struggling!” Madame Blue shouts shacking Emma until the girl stops. The man watches the scene until Emma has calmed down. Then he steps forward and gets down on Emma’s eye level.

“Hello Emma. It’s nice to meet you.” He says and holds out his hand for Emma to shake. Emma looks down at the hand and sees a very beautiful ring with a red ruby on it. She looks down at her own hands and sees the cuts and dirt. She can’t shake the man’s hand with her dirty ones.

The man sees the hesitation in Emma’s eyes and he looks down at what the little girl is looking at. He sees the cuts and wonders what happened to her. Seeing that the girl is too scared to shake his hand he takes the lead and takes the little hand in his.

“It’s okay Emma. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m your father.”

Emma gasps. “My father?” She asks in a little voice.

“Yes. I’m here to take you home.” He explains to her. Emma looks back to Lily and sees the same surprise in her eyes. When Lily sees Emma looking at her something changes. The surprise look changes into a confused and angry one.

“Lily?” Emma says but the girl looks away.

“Let’s go Emma. We have a long journey ahead.” The man says but Emma doesn’t want to go if Lily is mad at her.

“Lily?” Emma tries again but this time the girl lies down and closes her eyes. Emma doesn’t get why the girl is ignoring her.

“Let’s go.” The man scoops Emma up and places her on his hip. He walks up the stairs. Emma looks over his shoulder at Lily, the girl doesn’t open her eyes and keeps pretending that she’s asleep.

Madame Blue follows father and daughter out the brothel. A carriage is waiting for them. Before the carriage door closes Madame Blue stands up and looks at Emma. “Emma…….I….well…go and have a good life.” She says and steps back. It’s the only nice thing she has ever said to her.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The carriage door closes and Emma is left alone with the man that is calling himself her father. She wonders who he is and if he really is her father why is she only meeting him now. She looks around the carriage and finds herself getting more uncomfortable by the riches she is seeing.

The inside of the carriage is decorated with soft red satin and she’s sitting on a pillow that is probaly made out of the softest feathers. She never even had a pillow to sleep on and now she’s sitting on one. And that’s only the carriage the man sitting in front of her and who is staring at her, looks like he’s royalty.

“I can see you have your mother’s features.” He says and gives her a gentle smile. Emma looks up and frowns.

“I do?” She asks. She never knew her mother, she died in childbirth and she was brought to the brothel. She doesn’t even know how she ended up there and why Madame Blue agreed to raise her.

“Yes, she had blonde hair just like you and your eyes, they are beautifully green like hers were.”

A small smile forms on Emma’s face. “She did.” She always wondered who her parents were and how they looked like.

“Yes. I know this is a lot to take in but we have some time before we arrive at my home. I mean our home. I like to tell you a story Emma, would you like that.”

Emma bites her lip. She feels warm when he mentions the word home, is she really getting a home? She nods in agreement, so the man starts his story.

“So first of all my name is David Nolan, people call me lord Nolan. I’m the Duke of Westchapter. My father was the duke of Westchapter before me  and he was king Leopold’s most trusted adviser. Do you know about the monarchy of the country Emma?” He asks and Emma shakes her head.

“That's okay, no need to worry about that you will be taught in the matter latter. Let’s continue. A few years ago, eight years to be exact, I lived with my family at court. I was married to Lady Kathryn Gold, it was an arranged marriage. It benefited both our families and we were content. That was until I met someone else, your mother.  She worked at the palace as keeper of the royal swans. She was very beautiful just like you. Here name was Elena” David explains and pushes the lonely strains out of Emma’s face.

“We fell in love and soon after she was with child. You should know Emma, having a child with a person you are not married to is a horrible scandal. My reputation was destroyed, my father, my wife and her family were so ashamed off my behaviour. We came upon an agreement. I broke off all contact with your mother and she was forced to leave the palace.” Emma didn’t know how to feel about the man in front of her. He was her father but he had left her and her mother so easily. She wonders what her live would have been like if he had stayed if he had chosen her and her mother. Would her mother still be alive if it had been different?

“So why am I here now?” Emma asks.

“My wife died. We never had any children and the king has given me a new assignment, to govern one of the colonies . I want you Emma to come with me. I’m claiming you as my daughter, something I should have done a long time ago.” He takes Emma’s little hand in his.

“But I promise you Emma that from now on your life is going to be so much better. You will want for nothing. I want to make up for the years I wasn’t there. What do you say Emma? Will you be my daughter?”

Emma looks at the large hand that is engulfing hers. It’s warm and strong. And David was looking at her with so much care, she couldn’t say no. Well she could but he will probably take her back to the brothel if she said no. But why would she say no? He wants to give her a fairy tale life, something she could only dreamed off.

“I’ll like that.” She says and David smiles.

“Thank you.” He says giving her hand a little kiss. “You don’t know how happy this makes me.”

Emma gives him a smile and he releases her hand

The carriage rides further. Emma takes the time to look out of the little window. She gasps the moment she sees the large estate coming into view. The carriage turned into the lane and drove by the gatehouse. Emma could see the full mansion from that point and she could only do one thing, rubbing her eyes because she could only be dreaming and she wondered when she was finally going to wake up.

The mansion was magnificent especially with the moonlight gleaming down on it  , it looked like a little castle. One she would imagine when troubadours would come into town and sing their stories about princesses and knights. Was she really going to live here?

“Is this my new home?” Emma asks amazed.

“It is our family estate yes but we will only be here for a short period, that might not be enough time for you to feel at home here. We will be leaving at the end of the week but there will be a home waiting for us where we are going.” David explains.

They arrive at the mansion and the coachman helped them out of the carriage. David puts his hand on Emma’s shoulder and guides her inside. The moment they enter a cheery voice greets them.

“Lord David. Welcome back.” A middle aged woman says holding a candelabra and lighting up the room. She was dressed in a maids uniform so it was easy to know what roll she played in Lord’s David’s life.

“Thank you Eugenia, I would like for you to meet Emma. My daughter.” He says and Emma looks up at him. She couldn’t help but feel good every time he called her his daughter.

“You found her. That’s wonderful.” Eugenia says

“Emma.” David says getting down to her level just like he did early at the brothel. “Eugenia used to be the lady’s maid of my late wife Kathryn but now she’s the housekeeper and manages the household. She raised me and she will help you adjust to the new life you are going to live.”

Eugenia smiles and nods friendly at her. “For tonight she will take you to your bedchambers and in the morning she will bath you and dress you. After that we will meet for breakfast and I shall explain what is going to happen before the end of the week.” He says. “I bid you good night Emma. Till tomorrow sweet dreams.” He kisses her forehead and stands up. He lingers for just a moment before taking his leave to his own bedchambers.

Emma watches him go before turning her attention to the elderly woman.

“So sweetheart. You must be tired. Let’s go.” She says and holds out her hand for Emma to take. Emma looks at it for a moment before accepting it.

Eugenia guides her upstairs and Emma tries to take in as much as she can see. The first thing she notices is that the house is noisy because of the hard wood floors that creep when you use the stairs. The rugs that are placed on the floors mute the nose when they arrive upstairs. Candles lit the hall way and paintings from different people grace the walls. It does give the house a scary feeling. She squeezes Eugenia’s hand a little tighter.

“It must be a big change for you.” Eugenia says having noticed Emma’s squeezing. “Having lived in such a horrible place and all of the sudden arriving in a mansion. But not too worry little one I will help you find your place.”

Eugenia opens a door that leads to Emma’s bedchamber. “Why don’t you take of those rags and I’ll help you in something more comfortable.” Eugenia says and lets go of Emma’s hand. She walks away a wardrobe and pulls out a white nightgown.

Emma looks around the room. A fire in burning in the fireplace making the room pleasantly warm. She steps a little closer to the fire place before taking of her little dress. She didn’t bother to cover herself up since she was used to be naked around others in the brothel. They would dress, bath and pee while other people were in the room. Eugenia quickly covered her little body with the clean night gown and helped Emma into the bed.

“Normally you would take a bath before going to bed but since it’s already late and you must be very tired, we won’t bother. But tomorrow morning it’s the first thing you will do because my darling you are filthy.” Eugenia says letting her hand touch some of Emma’s hair that was dirty and ragged together. Getting those wild hairs untangled was going to be a difficult task.

“Now I wish you a good night my lady.” Eugenia says and kisses Emma’s forehead. She puts an extra block of wood on the fire before leaving the room.

Emma rolls on her side and watches how the flames cover the new block. Everything feels too good to be true. Her father, seems nice and sweet, Eugenia too. The house is warm and the bed feels like she’s lying on clouds. She sits up a little and takes her pillow. She never had a pillow. She let her hand glide over the cloth that holds the pillow together. It’s soft but she feels something prick her. She looks down and pulls at the little stick coming out of it. She pulls and pulls out a little feather. She lies down again and looks at the little feather, it’s a goose feather. She let is glide over her skin and closes her eyes. It tickles and she smiles, she doesn’t know what the morning will bring but for now she’s happy.


End file.
